Jane Phillips is a grandmother five times over, but you won't find her living at Homestead Village or Willow Valley.

The retired president of Family Service is perfectly content in her East Frederick Street row house in Lancaster.

"I consciously chose the city because of its diversity," said Phillips, who moved here from Hawaii. "I love all the different ages and the families around me," she said.

She also loves Lancaster's walkability.

"I walk all over," Phillips said, whether it's to Central Market, to neighborhood stores, or to the outdoor track at Franklin & Marshall College.

Phillips is part of a growing national trend increasingly evident in Lancaster — older baby boomers, empty nesters and retirees choosing urban living because of the amenities and atmosphere.

Tired of being dependent on cars, many are leaving suburban sprawl for the attractions of living in a traditional neighborhood.

Some are buying older homes. And others are helping create the demand that Lancaster developers are finding for upscale condominiums and apartments.

Walkable urbanity
Anthony Flint is director of public affairs and a researcher at the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, a think tank in Cambridge, Mass.

"There's a lot of talk about the revival of urban living," he said, "and some of the best customers are empty nesters and retired baby boomers."

Flint said they're anxious to escape the relative isolation of the suburbs, and the burden of maintaining a big house.

They like the convenience of walkability, with amenities "right out their front door," he said.

Older neighborhoods such as New York's Greenwich Village or Boston's North End have always had that appeal, Flint said.

"Not all [retirees] are going to want to live on a golf course."

Bob Chauncey, director of policy analysis for the National Center for Bicycling and Walking, an advocacy organization in Bethesda, Md., echoed Flint.

Younger empty nesters "moved out to the 'burbs, raised their kids, but now are tired of getting in the car every time they want to go to the movies or a restaurant," he said.

An older group, which he called "empty nesters plus," may be more wary of driving in general and prefer the walkability urban settings provide.

Of course, if suburbs had been built in a more pedestrian- and bicycle-friendly way, "we wouldn't be having these issues," Chauncey said.

Jim Kranish and his wife, Pat, moved to Lancaster city from York a couple of years ago. He is an executive committee member of Lancaster Downtowners, a growing network of Lancaster residents — mostly baby-boomer age and older — who share a passion for city living (see related story).

They own a house on the 300 block of North Mulberry Street, where they recently put in a first-floor bedroom.

Now retired, Kranish has a background in nonprofit management, while his wife walks to her job as a teacher at the YWCA.

Kranish said he enjoys the economic, ethnic and age diversity of city residents.

"I just couldn't move to a retirement home," he said.

Mayor Rick Gray and his wife, Gail, have lived in the city for decades and are now empty nesters.

The trend of people who are baby-boomer age and older moving into Lancaster is very real, he said.

For one thing, they're sick of being car-dependent at a time when gas prices keep climbing, Gray said.

"The bottom line for me has always been, I have to be able to walk to get a newspaper," he said.

Plus, Gray said, "There are 30 restaurants within walking distance of my house," which is on the 100 block of North Prince Street.

"And I can walk to the Fulton [Opera House], I can walk to Central Market," he said.

On the Web site www.walkscore.com, Gray's home registers 98 out of 100, so it qualifies as a "walker's paradise."

The growing demand for "walkable urbanity" will only continue in the next 20 to 25 years, he said.

City living also is attractive for retirees because many houses don't have yards, meaning homeowners can spend a couple of months a year in Florida, for example, and not have to worry about lawn care, Gray said.

"One of my goals in life is never to own a lawn mower, and I've achieved that, he said.

Gray even suggested downtown Lancaster would be a great place for a high-rise Willow Valley-type retirement community.

"It's a real opportunity for developers," he said.

Housing choices
In addition to existing homes, baby boomers, empty nesters and retirees are attracted to condominiums and apartments.

Developers are responding.

The residential phase of the mixed-use project Urban Place, at 480 New Holland Ave. in the former Kerr Glass factory, will have 49 apartments.

Twelve two- and three-bedroom units are ready now, with rents from $1,200 to $1,400, said Jill Fanning, a partner in Urban Place LP with her parents, Barry and Linda Baldwin; her sister, April Wilkinson; and her brother, Ned Baldwin.

When finished, the other apartments will start at about $900, Fanning said; some of those will be one bedroom.

Along with young professionals, interest is coming from retirees, she said.

The first two apartments were rented by people moving into the city, including one tenant from California, Fanning said.

Northgate, a project along the 300 block of North Queen Street, the 300 block of North Christian, and the first block of East Lemon, will feature 26 luxury condominiums, starting at $450,000, along with three town homes and retail space.

Three of the first six condos, in a converted warehouse, have sold. One empty nester couple bought two units, and the other condo was purchased by a retired college professor and his wife, said listing agent Andy Esbenshade of Coldwell Banker HomeSale Services Group.

The second couple already lived in the city, he said, but wanted the added convenience of first-floor living.

For years, much of Esbenshade's market share has been in Lancaster city.

"I get a lot of calls from empty nesters and soon-to-be empty nesters" about living in Lancaster, he said.

Interest from that demographic has clearly been growing the last couple of years, Esbenshade said.

"They like … just being in an urban setting with all the activities," he said. "It's lifestyle choice."

Esbenshade said he's received a number of calls from residents of Manheim Township's Bent Creek neighborhood about Northgate.

That in itself signals a major change.

"It used to be taboo," he said, for suburbanites to even consider living in the city.

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Paula Wolf is a staff writer for the Sunday News. She can be reached by e-mail at pwolf@lnpnews.com.